Deux Mullineauxs à Paris!

So the past week was my school here's second spring break. (I know, I know, second spring break? I am the first to admit that my school here is not real life) So anyways this spring break instead of traveling all around Europe, I instead got to experience more of Paris with some visitors. My first visitor, Abby, came on Friday and while it was a short visit it was a super fun one. I finally got to go into the Opera Garnier, the Opera which phantom of the Opera is based off of. It was absolutely beautiful!

Opera Garnier

Opera Garnier

Opera Garnier

Open Garnier

Opera Garnier

Opera Garnier

Then on Sunday my dad arrived! He was a bit jetlagged, but was a good sport while I dragged him along on some adventures. His hotel was in the 19th, so on the first day we headed over to Parc des Buttes Chaumont, which I was really glad I got to finally see and will definitely be picnicking at soon!  Afterwards, since it was a rainy day, I thought it would be a good idea to go to the Louvre. Whoops, forgot it was the first Sunday of the month so the Louvre was free. The line went through both courtyards, and we heard that it was actually 3 hours long!! So needless to say we skipped that, and instead headed over to Notre Dame. It was a long day for my poor Dad who only managed like half an hour of sleep on the plane, so after a delicious dinner in the latin quarter we called it a day.

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Belvedere of Sibyl @ Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Parc des Buttes Chaumont

Notre Dame in the Spring

Plaque at the restaurant we ate at!

I finally tried frog legs for dinner (tastes kind of just like chicken, but like a little too much like legs for me eeeeek)

The next day we went to see Paris's main attraction: the Eiffel Tower! I've been there many times, but finally went to the top this time! It was such a beautiful view (buuut lots of steps)! Afterwards, I took dad to check out Invalides, and realized for the first time you can go up to the second floor of the terrace and see old cannons and stuff without buying a museum ticket (aka fo' free).  Afterwards we went to the Louvre (and waited in absolutely no line), unfortunatly no one told us they basically kick you out a half hour before they close, so we didn't get to see all of it, but we did get to see all of the major sights! After the Louvre we enjoyed the sun in the Tuleries Garden. That evening, I gave dad a walking tour of Montmarte and Sacre Couer before enjoying a delicious Raclette dinner.

Believe it or not, dad and I are in the bottom of this picture (not all strangers are good at taking pictures)

View from the top!

So Pretty!

Dad @ Invalides

Invalides for the millionth time (I can't help it, its so pretty)

Dad & I in front of Invalides

Dad & Mona

Me & Mona

Dad wearing France's crown jewels

Lady Liberty Leading the People

Dad being a catcher for this ancient roman statue of a Phillies player

Dad loves when I make him take goofy pictures

So sunny

Tuleries Garden

Montmarte

A Mullineaux with a Moulin!

Another Mullineaux with a Moulin

Sacre Couer

Paris from Sacre Coeur

Sorry, Sacre Coeur is probably my favourite monumemt

Dad trying Raclette!

So much delicious cheese!

The next day Dad and I took a daytrip to Giverny. Giverny is where Claude Monet's house was and a lot of his most famous paintings, like the lily pads, where based on his house and gardens here. Giverny is unlike anywhere I have ever been! The town of Giverny was so small and quaint, with maybe like two restaurants and no stores or business or anything, it felt like a real authentic small French town. (probably because it was) When we first got there, dad and I enjoyed our favourite meal of his visit, a prefixe: a salad with a mysterious apple tart, steak skewers with camembert sauce and creme brulee. Afterwards we went to Monet's house and his gardens which were absolutely stunning! (no wonder he was so inspired) There is also an impressionist museum in Giverny we checked out, which had a Bonnard exposition. (If you don't recognize the name, we didn't know who he was before the exposition either haha) Then we decided to take a scenic walk back to Vernon (the next town over that the train from Paris goes to), which was probably my favourite part. The French countryside is absolutely beautiful, I hope I get a chance to see another small town like this before I leave!

Something doesn't fit here...

This is a bus station!

Yumm if you have any idea what the black stuff on this tart probably is, let me know it's soo yum!

camembert foreva

& of course my fave desert in the world

A busy intersection in Giverny

Dad

Claude's Gardens!

Dad: Hey cool! I can get the reflection in the picture too!
Me (after getting camera back): Uhh dad except you missed my head..

Claude's House (no photos allowed inside)

Scenic Giverny

Claude's Grave

This is basically what every house looks like in Giverny

We took a scenic walk along the Seine on our way back to Vernon

Collégiale Notre-Dame in Vernon

some delish pastries from Vernon

The next day was Dad's last full day, we started it out with a somewhat corny activity (that I was dying to do of course haha). I discovered since coming to Paris, that there is a small area outside of Paris called Issy-les-Moulineaux. The town was originally inhabited windmills (& Moulineauxs- people who worked on windmills, which is what our last name is a variation of). Unfortunatly, as Dad and I discovered, it's not a very impressive place, mostly just businesses, but it was cool to see our name up on signs! Afterwards I took dad to the Arc de Triumph, the Champs Elysees, The Grand Palais,the Madeline, Laudaree (there's apparently a second one by the Madeline.. it's equally as delicious), Place Vendome, Le Jardin du Palais Royale, Saint Sulpice and Saint Germain des Pres. Luckily it was a super nice day in the 70s, so the marathon of sightseeing was really enjoyable.

A Mullineaux at the Moulineaux tram stop!

Mullineaux @ Moulineaux

We're famous

I'm working on claiming this building back for the fam, I feel like we might be able to fool them into believe it's ours

The Grand Palais (Dad and I learned about the World Fair this week, did you know they still go on? They're called Expos now.)

The Madeline Church

Inside the Madeline

Place Vendome  (Napolean is at the top of this column dressed as Ceaser, and the statue was changed  about a million times, end of the story is a recreation of the original is up there)

Jardin du Palais Royale

Saint Sulpice

Prettiest Fountain

Inside St Sulpice 

St Germain des Pres (Paris's oldest remaining church, originally built in 558 AD)

Inside St Germain des Pres

had to have dad try Amorino while he's here!

Unfortunately after a quick last eclair on Thursday I had to show dad his way to the airport. :( Since then, I have been diligently working on a final paper due tomorrow and another one that is due Tuesday. (it's really not cool to make final papers due right after spring break) Anyways, almost done both of them plus I'm getting a haircut today!